As the supreme commander of a million-strong army, Raymond Lei was extremely busy—even if he didn’t have to handle every matter personally.
He had just finished dealing with a report about rations and weaponry when his personal guard came to inform him: Vice Commander Fiona Li was waiting to see him.
Managing a million soldiers was impossible for one commander alone, so Raymond was assisted by ten vice commanders. Fiona Li was mainly responsible for patrol operations.
"Greetings, Commander!"
Fiona Li knelt on one knee.
"Get up. What is it?" Raymond was used to handling a mountain of affairs daily, so he preferred to get straight to the point.
"Commander, I bring good news."
Fiona Li straightened up, a trace of excitement on her face.
"Don’t beat around the bush—just say it!" Raymond gave her a dissatisfied glance.
"Yes, sir." Realizing her mistake, Fiona Li quickly said, "Commander, yesterday Special Patrol Team Two completely wiped out a thousand-strong Strongarm Bull Devil battalion!"
Raymond Lei showed an approving smile. "Your patrol troops did well. But is there even a Special Patrol Team Two within the patrol corps?"
A hint of doubt flashed across Raymond’s face as he spoke.
Receiving the commander’s praise, Fiona Li didn’t dare claim credit and said regretfully, "Commander, this actually has little to do with our patrol corps. That Special Patrol Team Two isn’t under my authority—it reports directly to you!"
"Nonsense. When did I..." Raymond started to retort, then paused and looked at Fiona Li. "Don’t tell me that Special Patrol Team Two is led by that student from Sanctum Martial Academy?"
Some time ago, he’d received a letter from Xander Xuanyuan, saying that two students from the academy would come to the Blood River Battlefield to compete, and asking Raymond to look after them.
Xander Xuanyuan was not only the leader of the Haotian Alliance, but also the dean of Sanctum Martial Academy. His cultivation had reached the peak of Martial Saint, making his status truly distinguished; even Raymond, commander of a million troops, had to show him junior respect.
So Raymond had readily agreed to Xander’s request and delegated the matter to Fiona Li. With so much official business, he hadn’t followed up after handing it off.
In his mind, the students’ contest was just a clash of pride, nothing important. He hadn’t paid it much attention, but now, ten days later, one of those students had achieved a major feat—annihilating a thousand-strong Bull Devil battalion. That was truly surprising.
"Tell me—how did they wipe out the Bull Devil battalion?"
For the first time, Raymond felt genuine interest in this student.
Before reporting, Fiona Li had already investigated the entire process, even uncovering everything Leon Huang did during the ten days before leading his troops out.
After sorting out his thoughts, she began, "Commander, this all started twelve days ago."
This time, Raymond didn’t show impatience; instead, he looked genuinely interested.
Noticing his expression, Fiona Li was greatly encouraged and said loudly, "Of the two students from Sanctum Martial Academy, one is Lance Xuanyuan—the grandson of Dean Xander Xuanyuan—with late-stage Grandmaster cultivation. He currently leads Special Patrol Team One. The other is Leon Huang, who only joined Sanctum a few months ago as a Pristine Way Sect disciple. His talent is extraordinary—he broke through to Grandmaster in just a few months and condensed a Heaven-Rank Domain with a coverage of 150 meters!"
Hearing this, Raymond’s eyes narrowed slightly. He thought, ‘Sanctum really is blessed with luck. If nothing goes wrong, this Leon Huang is bound to reach the Martial Saint realm sooner or later.’
"Even more incredible, Leon Huang’s domain isn’t just Heaven-Rank—it’s the legendary Five-Element Domain!"
"What? Five-Element Domain?"
Raymond was truly moved. A Heaven-Rank Domain was already remarkable; when he broke through to Grandmaster, he’d barely managed to condense a Heaven-Rank Domain with a range of only 101 meters.
Even so, he had only reached early Martial Saint at the age of forty.
After a brief silence, Raymond voiced his doubt: "A genius like this should be treasured by Sanctum, not sent to the battlefield! Why would they risk him here?"
"Sanctum does treat him like a treasure, but this all started because of a female student!" With that, Fiona Li briefly explained the dispute between Leon Huang and Lance Xuanyuan over Lynette Ji.
"Though Leon Huang’s talent is outstanding, his cultivation is far behind Lance Xuanyuan’s. So Lance suggested settling things on the battlefield, with specific contest rules..."
Raymond raised a hand. "No need for the details—just tell me how they wiped out the Bull Devil battalion!"
"Yes, Commander! On the second day after arriving in Blood River City, Lance Xuanyuan led Special Patrol Team One to the battlefield. Over ten days, they reaped huge gains—killing several Bull Devil centurions, dozens of ten-man leaders, and nearly a thousand regular Strongarm Bull Devils.
But Leon Huang didn’t leave Blood River City until ten days after arriving, only then leading his Special Patrol Team Two out.
"Oh? Why did he wait ten days? He wasn’t just sitting idle, was he?" Raymond asked.
"Of course, nothing escapes your sharp eyes, Commander!" Fiona flattered.
"Enough flattery—just continue!"
"Yes, sir." Fiona nodded and continued, "During those ten days, Leon Huang was constantly drilling his men. He created three battle arrays: the Threefold Blade Formation, the Unity Battle Array, and the Big Dipper Battle Array!"
"Oh? He can even invent battle arrays?"
This made Raymond Lei even more surprised.
Fiona Li nodded in agreement, her eyes showing a hint of admiration. "At first, I didn’t pay much attention to his battle arrays, but later I realized the ones he created were far superior to ours."
Yesterday morning, Leon Huang led Special Patrol Team Two out. They’d barely reached the Blood River when they ran into more than three hundred Strongarm Bull Devils sneaking across.
Leon’s military talent was impressive. First, he used his invented three-ranked volley to kill dozens of Bull Devil soldiers, then personally stepped in and took out over a hundred, drawing the attention of three centurions.
He then wiped out all three centurions in a single move, leaving the Bull Devils leaderless—and finally, he annihilated the rest.
After finishing off the Bull Devils, this kid did something bizarre—he ordered his men to cut off their heads and pile them into a mound, calling it a Skull Mound.
"And then?" Raymond pressed, his interest clearly growing.
"After the Skull Mound appeared, several patrol squads went out of their way to visit. Turns out, Leon Huang had a deeper purpose for building it!" Fiona continued, her face now showing excitement and admiration.